A wolf's scared pup
by Evilkat23
Summary: It's almost Sherman's birthday and everything is looking up and good, that is until a couple of prisoners escape their cells. Sequel to 'I am alpha wolf' I suggest reading that first.
1. Prologue

Mr. Peabody happily sighed as he took a sip of his tea, It's been four months since James kidnapped Sherman, everything was looking up and bright.

For starters, James was put in prison on multiple charges, Some old, like the warrant he evaded and the attempted murder on his wife. Then there were the newer charges, Kidnapping of a minor, accomplice in the case with Joel Kirkland, as well as pretending to even be related to Sherman when he wasn't, add child abuse on top of it all and James had a neat little package. No, James wasn't going to be bothering them. In fact, Peabody went to court hearings and spoke in a couple, he absolutely forbade Sherman from going or speaking. The boy seemed quite alright with that.

Then, there was Matthew, the brains of it all, Peabody found out. Oh, man, was the dog surprised with Matthew got it worse than James. Impersonating a cop, identity theft, Kidnap of a minor and a torture of an adult, accomplice in Sherman's kidnapping, and a couple other minor charges on top of it all. Needless to say, those two will not be coming back in future. Which was beyond good.

Sherman was recovering quite nicely as well, his eyes shining again, his goofy smile coming back, him tripping over himself, best of all his nightmares even stopped. Of course, if it wasn't for therapy, Sherman still not might not be himself. Of course by now, Sherman was back in school, doing nicely, getting all A's, hanging out with his friends. It was all doing good.

Still, Mr. Peabody remembered when the therapist finally found the root of Sherman's nightmares...It wasn't what Peabody expected that was for sure.

-_flashback transition-_

_"Please, Mr. Peabody sit." Dr. Michals asked the dog as Sherman walked out and waited in the waiting room, Mr. Peabody sat down on the hard plastic chair that was just across from the therapist, this was something they would normally do after a session. _

_Dr. Pamela Michals was a woman in her late forties, she had long wavy brown hair that she always kept in a pony tail, it also seemed to be graying a bit. Her skin was a nice olive color and her eyes a pretty hazel. She was always soft spoken and hardly ever had to raise her voice. She was a little on the chubby side but that never bothered the dog or Sherman for that matter._

_"Now, Mr. Peabody, I have made some real progress with Sherman, I must say." Dr. Michals said as she opened a folder, Mr. Peabody shifted a bit in his seat. _

_"Oh? Please explain." Peabody urged her on. She looked at her notes for a few seconds before continuing. _

_"Mr. Peabody, you told me that you believe these nightmares are of James Walters doing, correct?" She asked, Mr. Peabody scoffed._

_"I don't believe, I know."_

_"Well, you were wrong."_

_Mr. Peabody straightened at this, his eyes narrowed, he was feeling challenged by this woman._

_"Come again?" He asked her, she took out a piece of paper and handed it too him, it was a drawing, one of Sherman's. It showed grunion trying to take Sherman away while the boy tried to reach Peabody. _

_"Almost everyone of his pictures are like this, it's either James, or that woman. Those are his nightmares, him being taken away from you. Oh well, except for the one he drew today." She reached into the folder and pulled out another picture. "This one is a little...disturbing..." She added as she handed the picture to Peabody. _

_Peabody sighed and rubbed his eyes, when he saw it. _

_"I had thought I stopped him from seeing this..." Peabody told Dr. Michals._

_It was James at the bar, bleeding out of his nose and mouth, Peabody wasn't sure, but he was guessing the little white spots on the table were teeth. _

_"Well, you didn't. But, besides that one picture it appears that the only thing haunting Sherman, is just being taken away from you."_

_"I keep telling Sherman-"_

_"That nobody is going to take him away? James did, Grunion almost did."_

_"But he came back to me in the end."_

_"Yes, he did, he's happy about that, but just very, scratch that, extremely upset that so many people want him away from you. It's causing many scenario to pop in his head how he can be taken away, which in turn-"_

_"Is causing the nightmares." He finished her sentence and she nodded._

_"May I make a suggestion?" She asked, leaning back in her chair, she started to write something down on something inside the folder._

_"You're the therapist."_

_"Sleeping pills. Dreamless sleeping pills." She said, tapping her pencil on the paper, all the while looking at the dog._

_"Wait? what? no! That's not solving the problem. That's masking it!"_

_"Mr. Peabody, I honestly don't think these dreams will 'just stop' on their own, give him a couple of pills a night-"_

_"No, I'm not drugging my child end of discussion. I think I heard enough..." With that Mr. Peabody hopped down from the chair and walked out._

_"The offer is still on the table, anytime."_

_-End of Flashback-_

He had talked to Sherman about it afterwards. It was a long talk, Sherman wound up crying a bit in the end, but still, in the end, everything was discussed and ever sense that talk, not one nightmare, he didn't need drugs, just a talk. It made Peabody wonder Dr. Michals a bit. Still, everything is fine now, no need for drugs and no more worrying about James and Matthews.

Next week was Sherman's eighth birthday. Peabody had some planning to do.


	2. Talks and Thoughts

Mr. Peabody stood there in the kitchen, his cell phone pressed against his ear, on the other line was officer Barley of all people. The officer had called to check up on both Peabody and Sherman.

"So, Mr. Kirkland got released from the hospital. I hope he got my gift basket." Mr. Peabody spoke to the officer, he was met with a hearty laugh.

"Well, if he did, I don't think I'll be knowing anytime soon, Joel quit."

"Oh, well, it doesn't surprise me."

"It didn't me either, but the way he quit, oh, Peabody you should of been there." Officer Barely started chuckling on the other line, this made Peabody laugh a bit.

"How'd he quit?"

"In the most unique way I've ever seen. He stormed in, everyone went quiet when he did so by the way, he just grabbed his stuff from the desk, looked everyone. Then in the loudest voice I have ever heard that man use, screamed 'I F-ING QUIT!' then just left."

Peabody snorted then laughed, he could hear Barely laugh as well, after a few seconds of laughing, the finally calmed down enough to speak.

"So, how's Sherman doin'? Anymore nightmares?" Barely asked, Mr. Peabody could hear the tik tak of keys being pressed on the other line.

"Nope, those stopped months ago, you were kind of right about the therapist helping."

_Please don't get on my back about the whole F-ing thing, it wasn't cursing, he literally said it like F ing see not cursing._

"What do you mean by 'kinda right?'"

"Well, she helped for the most part, but in the end she wanted to give him sleeping pills." Peabody explained as he walked into the kitchen.

"And?" Barely asked, that caused Peabody to blink, he figured if anything Barely would be with him on this.

"And? I don't think giving him pills will help anything, as I told her, it just masks the problem." He told the cop, grabbing a cup from the cabinet, he, Peabody, walked over to the fridge and filled the cup with Ice and water.

"Mask it, put a cape on it, let it fight crime! (_1)_ Anything is better than having that kid suffer."

"Hey, the nightmares stopped that night, he doesn't need pills." Peabody told the officer flatly, not liking the tone the officer was now giving him, there was a silence on the other line, then, the officer spoke.

"...Right, take this from a guy with three kids, nightmares are tricky devils, don't think just because he hasn't woken you in the middle of the night, that the nightmares just stopped." Barely said, Peabody opened his mouth to retort back to the officer, but Barely spoke quickly. "I gotta go, Peabody, Hey, kid's birthday still next week?"

"His birthday is the same day every year."

"Yeah, Yeah, Smart-aleck. I'll probably see you then."

"Wait, why?"

"Gotta go."

With a final click, him and Barely's conversation was over. Peabody frowned and place his phone down on the counter, why would officer Barely want to come to Sherman's birthday? He shrugged, maybe the cop was just concerned for the boy, though he doubted it.

Peabody looked at the time, placing the cup down he stretched a bit, he should go now to pick up Sherman, skip the traffic of parents picking up their kids. Making sure he had everything he need, Phone and keys, he walked towards the elevator, clicking the button, he waited for the elevator to rise up. While waiting, he found himself thinking.

'_Just because he hasn't woken you in the middle of the night, doesn't mean that the nightmares just stopped.' _Barely's voice rang around his head, what if it was true? Peabody wouldn't put it behind Sherman to suffer silently. The elevator dinged, snapping Peabody out of his thoughts. Walking inside the elevator, he pressed the bottom button to go down, and waited. It went down, luckily nobody else had to use the elevator. Once in the lobby, Peabody walked outside and sighed, it was starting to warm up.

Getting to his moped, Peabody hopped in and strapped his helmet on, the engine came to life, he smiled and then drove off. The vehicle hummed down the busy street, maneuvered around some of the slower cars, it didn't take too long before he came to his first stop light. He stopped and waited, his body vibrating along with the moped.

'_Is Sherman still having nightmares...No, of course he isn't! Sherman would tell me if he was! Barely doesn't know what he's talking-'_

The screech of a horn shook him out of his thoughts, looking up, he saw that the light had turned green, going straight, he sighed, he needed to focus more on the road and less on Sherman. Breathing out slowly, he stopped at a stop sign, the school just up a head. Once the road was clear, he started forward.

Finally, he got to the school, stopping the moped, he turned off the ignition and waited.

'_I should talk to Sherman again, I just need to see if everything is alright, nonsense! Sherman is fine. At least, he always SAYS he fine, I don't know if he's alright in his head...I should invite a device to read his mind. Heh, talk about invading his space-'_ Once again, he was thrown out of his thoughts by the sound of the school bell ringing around the school yard. He straightened up a bit and waited for Sherman.

He smiled broadly, Sherman was talking to Penny again, he, Peabody, knew that for those hard two months that Sherman wasn't really as talkative as he once was, he would be real quiet, but once those walls started to fall, he started talking again, it made Peabody wonder how Penny was feeling about Sherman as of late. But, now it was looking good.

Sherman waved goodbye to the blonde girl and ran up to the moped, Once the helmet was one and he was strapped in, Peabody turned the engine and took off. He drove in silence, Sherman didn't speak and neither did Peabody. In fact, they hardly spoke at all that day, not when they made it to the penthouse, not when they were in the elevator going up. they barely talked at dinner. It wasn't until Peabody was tucking Sherman in did they finally have a conversation.

"Sherman, is everything alright?" Peabody asked, Sherman looked down at his hands

"Yeah."

"Sherman."

"No..."

"Well, what's wrong, tell me."

"I'm scared."

"About what?"

"James..."

"Oh...Well, Sherman, you don't need to be scared, he's not coming back. He's locked up with no way of getting out."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Ok. If you say so."

"Now, get some sleep. Tomorrow is Friday, and then it's your birthday." Peabody said happily, he turned the light out.

"I love you, Mr. Peabody." Sherman said as he turned a bit in his bed.

"I love you to, Sherman."

Gently, Peabody shut the door and walked towards his own room, Yes, Saturday was Sherman's birthday, Peabody knew what he was going to do. Naturally, there was going to party, some of Sherman's friends will be coming over cake and presents. But, Peabody's present was going to be, naturally, a trip in the WABAC, he was thinking of maybe the 1920's a time of dancing, poetry, parties, and music.

Sherman should like that, Peabody hoped, for now though, it was time for bed. Stretching, he walked towards his room, he stopped momentarily though, something didn't feel right, he didn't know what thought. After a few seconds, he just shrugged and walked to his room, it was probably nothing.

Then again, every time he thought it was nothing. It always wound up being something.

_Ok, so I totally forgot this._

_(1)- I stole that line from two and a half men. Charlie got hurt and wanted medication and Alan only said that meds mask the pain, and charlie goes "Mask it, give it a cape, let it fight crime, i just want the pain to stop."_


	3. Just a little bit

_Ok, this is probably going to be the shortest chapter I have ever done, I'm sorry. Really I am. _

"There he is." A gruff voice spoke, looking out of the window of his rusted car, this man had binoculars in his hands, as he watching the children hoard into the Susan B. Anthony school. He was watching one child in particular, a child with flaming red hair, lanky build, and thick round glasses. Sherman. Little brat. He moved his binoculars a bit, turning his gaze to the dog on the moped. He narrowed his eyes at the dog, Stupid mutt.

Oh, he was going to get his revenge on them, but not now, and not today. He knew when and he knew how, he smirked, an evil sickening smirk. Oh, he was going to have a little fun with them first. Yes in deed, he was going to watch them squirm helplessly and then scatter like bugs...hm...bugs...that gives him an idea.

-Transition-

"So, Birthday party still going on at your house?" Mason asked. Sherman nodded happily to his two friends as he took a bite of his food.

"Hello Sherman." Penny said as she sat down next to ginger boy. Sherman smiled at her, his traditional goofy smile, it made Penny smile back at him, it's been a while since anyone has seen that familiar smile.

"Hello Penny, are you coming to my Birthday party?" Sherman asked her, she nodded.

"Obviously." She told him, lightly shoving him a bit. He kept his smile and shoved her back. They wound up giggling and then turning to their lunches. They ate in silence, neither Carl nor Mason said anything to the duo. It was kind of awkward. The bell rang loudly, it caused almost everyone at the table to jump up. Packing up the parts of their lunches that they didn't eat, they all got up and headed for the playground. While Penny, Carl, and Mason ran around talking to other students, nobody noticed Sherman.

Sherman just sat down underneath a tree, enjoying the shade, he yawned, he was tired...beyond tired. Hardly slept at all last night, in fact, he can't remember the last he actually got a full nights rest. He didn't want to sleep though, sleeping brought nightmares. He didn't like nightmares.

Still...just ten minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt him. He hoped.


	4. Much thoughts

_"There you are, you little brat! where have you been!?" James demanded angrily in his cold voice, a sneer on his smashed up face, thick red blood running down the bottom of his face, when he opened his mouth he had no teeth. _

_"J-Just out, Sir..." Sherman responded, fidgeting where he stood, his school clothes now dirty, his hand bleeding heavily, thorns imbedded in his palm. Fear gripped his whole body. James grabbed his arm and started to pull him towards a shack like house. _

_"Mr. Peabody!" He cried trying to get to his father, but when he turned to dog wasn't there. He was alone. _

_"C'mon!" James grunted, dragging Sherman more towards the house. Sherman tried to get away but just couldn't get out of this man's iron grip. _

_"Mr. Peabody!" Sherman screamed again, but the dog still wasn't there. Sherman yelped when James grabbed his shoulders and started to shake him. _

_"Wake up! That dog isn't going to save you this time! Wake up, Sherman! Wake up! Sherman! Sher-_

"-Man! Wake up, Sherman! Sherman!"

**_SLAP_**

Sherman jumped and looked around, his cheek stinging. He rubbed it and looked up at Penny, she had her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed.

"Jeez, Sherman! Talk about dead asleep. Class got let in ten minutes ago, we made it all the way back to the class room before anyone even realized you were missing! The whole room was freaking out by the time I left to go and find you!" She yelled at him. Sherman said nothing, he just licked his, very, dry lips, his hand still on his cheek where she had slapped him.

"Sorry about hitting you, you wouldn't wake up! I was yelling your name and everything!" She explained, he could only nod at her, she grabbed his hand and pulled him up to his feet.

"Are you ok?" She asked him as he dusted off the back of his pants, getting the dirt and grass off.

"Yeah, I'm fine...do me a favor?" He asked her, she nodded.

"What?"

"Don't tell, Mr. Peabody about this."

"You don't have to worry about me telling him, you do have to worry about Principal Purdy telling him though."

Sherman groaned, the last thing he needed was another parent, principal meeting between those two. Penny giggled at him, he just looked at her, a bemused look on his face.

"You got a little sun burnt...a lot sun burnt." She told him. At first he didn't understand it, his arms and legs felt fine, he soon found out when she pinched his cheek.

"Ow!" He cried out and slapped her hand away.

"Oh boy, good luck explaining that one to Mr. Peabody." Penny snickered.

"Ahem." They both looked up to the school doors, principal Purdy was standing there, arms crossed, a very sour expression on his face. All he had to do was gesture for the two to come forward with his index finger and they did so.

"Thank you, Ms. Peterson, for finding Sherman, Ms. Peterson you may return to class, Sherman follow me." He said, they both nodded, Penny gave Sherman a sympathetic look before returning to class. Sherman, did as he was told and followed the principal. Luckily, his office wasn't too far from the recess yard. They walked inside, Sherman took his respected seat across from Principal Purdy.

"Mr. Sherman, I have to say, I never figured that you would be one to skip class-"

"But I didn't, Principal Purdy, please understand, I-I was tired, I fell asleep under the tree. Ask Penny, she had to wake me!" Sherman said quickly.

"Be that as it may, Sherman, school is not a place for sleeping, I have inform your father of this matter." Purdy reached over to his phone.

"No! Please!" Before Sherman knew it, he had jumped from his seat and placed his hands on top of Purdy's stopping the principal from picking up the phone. "Please...He has enough to worry about, can't we over look it? I swear, I promise, this will never happen again." Sherman said, as he slowly took his hands off of Purdy's.

"I don't know..." Principal Purdy said to the boy, Sherman wished he didn't have to pull this card out but seeing no other way out of it, Sherman spoke.

"Would it help if I said that tomorrow is my birthday?"

The moment he heard the sigh of defeat from the principal, Sherman smiled broadly.

"Alright, I will leave you with a warning. But, if this happens again, I will inform your father on this. Deal?"

"Deal."

-Transition-

"So Sherman, how was school?" Peabody asked the boy as Sherman strapped himself in to the sidecar.

"It was fine."

"Why is your face red?" Peabody asked, instantly noting Sherman's sun burnt face. Sherman said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Played too hard at recess."

"Hm...alright."

Sherman blinked, surprised he even got away with it. Mr. Peabody took off, Sherman hummed slightly, unknown of the thoughts going though his father's mind.

'_Sherman, what is going on in your mind? Why are you lying? What aren't you telling me? Do you not trust me anymore?...'_ Peabody thought with a frown on his face.

Purdy had indeed called the dog about what happened with Sherman, despite the deal him and Sherman had made. Peabody couldn't help but sigh at this, he was sure that Sherman will tell him eventually, still, he couldn't help but worry, was Sherman not getting enough sleep at night? Was he not sleeping in general? He always seemed so happy and chipper as of late...

Was it all a ruse?

Was Sherman fooling Peabody into thinking that he was happy when really he's not?

More importantly, was the therapist and officer Barely right? would sleeping pills be the best thing for his child? Peabody shook his head. No! NO! Sherman did not need medication! How could he think such ludicrous thoughts? Like he told both the therapist and officer Barely, pills will only mask Sherman's problem, it will not solve it! No. Sherman was fine, he always said he was fine. But, even Peabody knew, that saying you're fine doesn't mean your fine...in a lot of cases, however, fine never really meant fine..

_I'm not gonna lie, I took the first two lines directly from the pilot episode of the original TV show. I wander, did anyone else see that I did that?_


	5. Birthday surprises

_Ok, so there's going to be a small reference in this chapter for another one of my MPAS stories, I know you guys will get it rather quick, well those who had read it, so like two of you guys XD. Another warning, towards the end, it gets very graphic and might even be disturbing, I added a warning for when the parts come up._

Peabody sighed heavily, Sherman was asleep, at least he hoped Sherman was. Now, he had to make a call, a call he really didn't want to make. Picking up his phone, he dialed the number he had placed in his phone. Placing his phone to his ear, he waited.

_Ring_

Nothing.

_Ring._

Still nothing, C'mon, pick up.

_Rin-_

"Dr. Pamela Michals, speaking."

He sighed, and sucked up his pride.

"Dr. Michals, It's me...Peabody..."

Peabody could practically hear the smirk come across the woman's face.

"My, my, It's been awhile Peabody, I was beginning to wonder if little Sherman was coming back. Let me guess, erratic sleeping habits? Nightmares coming back...or is it both?" she said in a disdainful tone, he was beginning to really dislike this woman. Still, he inhaled sharply though his nose, calming himself down enough to speak.

"Sherman...May be...not sleeping at all..." He grumbled the last part, feeling his pride shatter a bit.

"Oh, Peabody, what would you want me to do about it? I mean, I could prescribe Sherman some sleeping pills...oh wait, those only mask the problem, something the smart and intelligent Peabody would never do." She said, her voice condescending, it almost made Peabody growl, still, he stopped himself and spoke.

"I...I...I was thinking about your offer..." He felt the rest of his pride just shatter and break around him.

"Really? Well, I don't know, I mean-"

"Enough!" Peabody yelled, his fur bristling up, he had enough of this woman's tone and attitude. Quickly, he coughed quickly and then shook his head. "Dr. Michals, please..." he said slowly, once he regained himself.

"You can pick the prescription up at your nearest drug store."

Without another word, the doctor hung up, Peabody sighed and put his phone up, so that was it? but was he going to do it? drug his child? He was better than this, but if Sherman really wasn't sleeping...if he was still experiencing these nightmares then what was he going to do? Just let Sherman suffer?

No, he couldn't let Sherman suffer, it wasn't fair to the boy. He'll pick the medicine up in a couple of days, after Sherman's birthday, that's the least he could do. He smiled, Tomorrow, Sherman was turning eight, oh, how big his little boy was getting.

He smiled, it seemed like only yesterday, Peabody found the small infant in a wet, damp, box. He smiled and turned around, walking towards Sherman's room, he slowly opened the door, so not to wake, or at least disturb his boy. He walked over to the boy, the dog noticed that Sherman's blanket had fallen to the floor, picking it up, Peabody placed it over his boy and then ruffled Sherman's hair.

"Get some sleep." He said gently and then walked out.

Unknown, or known, to Peabody, Sherman was still was awake. The moment his door short, he opened his big brown eyes and brought his thumb up to his mouth, he started to chew on the nail, or what was left of his thumb nail. He ignored the pain and bleeding of his thumb after a while. Finally, after what felt like forever, he managed to drift off into sleep.

-Sherman's b-day-

The sound of children laughing filled the penthouse, Sherman and Penny chasing each other, playing tag. Peabody watched the two run around and dread filled him slightly.

"Children, please, I understand excitement, but don't break anything." Peabody said as the two children ran around. His voice called them to stop and nod.

"Yes, Mr. Peabody, of course, Mr. Peabody." Both of them said at the same time and then went back to running around, playing tag. Peabody smiled, Sherman looked good, but, still it was bothering the dog that his boy might not be sleeping well. The sound of the buzzer snapped the dog out of his thoughts.

Walking up to it, he put his paw on his button.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Peabody? we're here for Sherman's party."

"Yes, C'mon up!"

Peabody cringed when he heard a crash in the next room.

"What was that?" He asked, There was a silence, followed by Sherman's reply.

"Nothing..."

"...You are so lucky it's your birthday..." Peabody mumbled to himself with a headshake. There was a ding of the elevator and Peabody walked forward to greet the guests.

"Professor, Vita, Guinevere, Ben, It's always a pleasure." He said, He, Peabody shook hands with the professor and Vita.

"Hey, Ben! Guinevere!" Came Sherman's voice, both of the children's faces lit up and they went to go and play with Penny and Sherman. Peabody noticed the two presents in the professor's hands.

"Oh, what did you get Sherman?" He asked them as they walked in.

"Hm, Oh right, Ben said that Sherman would like to learn about Fabulous creatures, so he got him a book on them, and this one...well, someone asked to give this one to Sherman. We have no clue who it was though."

"Oh?...Well, alright then, just place it on the table with the rest of the presents." Peabody said pointing to the table. They nodded and did as he said, he smiled at them and soon they started up an idle conversation. After awhile the rest of Sherman's friends came up. Which was just Mason and Carl.

"Ok, Ok, come on, all the kids together for a group picture!" Peabody yelled, quickly all the kids got together in a group. Since Ben was the tallest, he stood in the back, everyone else in the front, Sherman in the middle. Ben placed a hand on Sherman's head, Penny had the ginger boy in a half hug, Mason was the same on the other side of Sherman, Guinevere had Ben in a half hug, a wide smile on her face, and Carl was right in front of Sherman smiling. Peabody quickly snapped the picture, along with the rest of the parents.

"Alright, Sherman, why don't you get to opening the presents. I'll get the cake."

Peabody handed his camera to the Mrs. Peterson, the woman pre-agreeing to take pictures while the dog went to get the cake.

Sherman nodded happily, he walked over to the table.

Peabody smiled and walked into the kitchen, he made Sherman's favorite cake, German chocolate cake, all naturally home made of course, He could hear the sound of paper being ripped open from the next room. He could hear Sherman's excitement as he looked at his new item.

Being careful with the cake, Peabody held it with both hands, he could hear the sound another present to be ripped open, as he started his walk from the kitchen to the living room, he didn't expect to hear Sherman's, and all the other children, screams of terror.

Placing the cake on a counter, he ran into the next room.

"What happened!?" Peabody screamed.

All the children where away from the table, Sherman included, Penny was hugging her mother for dear life, Ben and Guinevere were with the professor and Vita, Vita having a hand on both of them, Ben was looking away, hand covering his mouth like he was going to vomit. Mason and Carl had their backs turned away from the table, both looking rather sick.

Then there was Sherman, his boy, Peabody has never his boy looking so scared in his life, Sherman had huddled against a wall, his back turned from everyone, Peabody noticed the hand on his mouth like he was going vomit, the rapid movement of his boy's stomach made it look like he was actually gagging and trying to keep the vomit down. Peabody noticed tears welling in his eyes.

What in the world has spooked the children so much?

"Peabody, the present." Mr. Peterson said, almost as if he read the dogs mind, He, Mr. Petersong, then pointed to the open box

**(Ok, warning, this part is kind of graphic and disturbing.)**

Peabody became aware of a rather disturbing smell. Gagging a bit, he walked forward, his heart started to hammer. As he drew closer to the box, the smell gotten strong, he could also see something moving around in the box, He looking into the box and gasped, quickly he backed away, hands over his mouth, he know understood what had scared the children.

Inside the box was a dead dog, being eaten by maggots...that wasn't even the worse part...no...the worse part was the dog was disemboweled, and separated limb by limb...This was a threat...I very clear threat...


	6. Horrible news

"Sherman, please come out." Came Ben's voice as the older boy knocked on Sherman's door, the very first chance Sherman got, he ran right into his room and locked the door. Now all the children where trying to get him to come out, Peabody knew he wouldn't, not know, not with all the cops and officers here.

This was a great way to spend a birthday.

Who doesn't want to see a dead dog, being eaten by maggots get taken away by the cops and then have to talk the officers, along with the other parents, Peabody was sure that this was the last things on the Greenblooms mind.

"Hey, Peabody." Came a familiar voice, the dog looked up at Officer Barely.

"Hello, Officer."

"What happened?"

"Must I go though it again? I must of told five police men the same thing! I just...really want to talk to Sherman right now."

"I'm sorry, just give me the abridge version."

"I was in the kitchen getting the cake, I heard the children scream, came running, saw what inside the box, called you guys."

"Hm, Which one of the parents do you think did this?"

"None. The present came from the Greenblooms, only they were just being messengers, according to them, some man told them to give it Sherman, the only problem is, the man asked Ben to do it, and according to Ben, the man was wearing sunglasses, a hat, and baggy clothes, so there was no way to identify him."

Barely seemed to frown at this, Peabody frowned as well, there was something still not settling well with the dog.

"Did you know something like this was going to happen?" Peabody asked the officer, that caused the bushy mustache on Barely's face to twitch lightly.

"Of course not."

"I don't believe you, you wanted to come here, to Sherman's party for some reason, you know something that I don't."

"I just wanted to check up on Sherman."

Peabody scoffed and crossed his arms, Barely sighed heavily.

"I'll tell you later..." He, Barely whispered to the dog and walked off to talk to one of the others parents. Peabody narrowed his green eyes, not liking the sound of Barely's voice. He was soon snapped out of his thoughts when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, turning around, Peabody found himself looking at five very worried children.

"Sherman won't come out of his room." Penny said, her voice matching her facial expression. Peabody frowned and sighed, taking off his glasses, he rubbed his eyes, that was going to be a problem as well.

"It's the police, he probably doesn't want to deal with them, can't say I blame him." Peabody said softly as he put his glasses back on.

"He's scared." Ben said, more to the rest of the children than to Peabody, something about Ben's voice told Peabody that he knew what it was like to be this scared. Peabody could only nod to the ten year old.

"Well, why don't we go and tell him that he's not alone in this?! I think that's why he's scared!" Penny said to them in a commanding voice, before Peabody could ask them to just leave Sherman be for the time being, they ran off towards Sherman's room once more. The dog only shook his head, slowly, he knew Sherman probably won't open that door.

"Hey, Peabody." Came Professor Barnabas Greenbloom's voice, Peabody looked at the man.

"Professor, I'm sorry your daughter and Son had to see such a revolting thing today-"

"I'm sure they are fine, I mean, they both looked scared and sick, but, Sherman looked the most affected over what happened." The professor said and Peabody nodded.

"Yeah...If you want to leave now-"

"Actually, I know that look in Ben's eyes, I can tell that he wants to stay and comfort Sherman, if he can. So, I was wondering, because like I said, I can sense it, If it would be alright if Ben and Guinevere stay the night? if asked that is."

That threw the dog off guard, was the professor serious? He did see that someone was threatening them, right? Peabody turned to where Sherman's door was, he blinked in surprise, they weren't out there, did they manage to get him to open the door? did these kids managed to get his son to do the impossible?!

"Uh...If Ben and Guinevere ask, then I see no problem with it." Peabody said, doing a double take to the empty hallway.

"What are you looking at?" The professor asked him when he noticed the dog looking back towards the hallway.

"I think they managed to get Sherman to open his door..." Peabody mumbled, heard the professor chuckle slightly but then turn and walk back over to his wife. Peabody walked over to Sherman's door, of course it was shut, still, he put his ear up to it and listened, sure enough, he could make out a muffled conversation going on in the room. Unfortunately, he couldn't understand what they where saying. Still, the fact that they got him to open his door was amazing.

"Peabody."

The white beagle turned and looked at officer Barely, the cop pointed to Peabody's empty room.

"Lets have a talk in here."

Narrowing his eyes, Peabody followed the officer into his own room, turning on the light, Peabody shut the door.

"What's this all about? What aren't you telling me?!" Peabody demanded instantly. Officer Barley quickly gestured for Peabody to lower his voice.

"Calm down, please-"

"Calm down? Sherman was doing fine and smiling again! Now, it might be ruined! Now we might be back to square one! and you know what!? I want answers! Answers you most likely have!" Peabody growled uncharacteristically.

"Ok, Ok, please, just lower your voice...I will tell you everything."

Peabody took several deep breaths calming himself down. Barely looked at the dog and then pointed to the bed.

"You, uh, better sit down..." Barely told the dog, Peabody only crossed his arms and glared at the officer, he just wanted answers, he had enough.

"Or...not...ok..." Barely took a deep breath, then in his calmest voice spoke, what he told Peabody, actually made the dog lose his balance a bit.

"Matthew Walters, escaped. We believe he is the one who sent the dead dog to Sherman, we also believe that Sherman and yourself are not safe here..."


	7. Figuring it all out

Peabody felt lightheaded, shakily he sat down on his bed. How in the world could he react to something like this? He looked at officer Barely and then said:

"How did he escape?"

"I can't exactly tell you-"

"You are going to! If my boy is in danger then I want answers." Peabody jumped from the bed, a deadly growl in his throat, he quickly regained himself and shook his head.

"I apologize for that, my instincts took momentary control." Peabody said, removing his glasses calming himself down a bit. Rubbing his glasses on his fur, he put them back on and officer Barely spoke again.

"Alright, I can tell you this, I was sent here by my boss, he figured something like this would pop up...He told me if it did, which it did, that it might be in Sherman's best interest to go in to Witness protection, you know, until we catch Matthew."

Peabody took a deep breath, letting those words slowly sink into his head. Before he knew it, he was shaking his head from side to side.

"No, No, absolutely not. I cannot allow that." Peabody said sternly, Officer Barley let out a low sigh and sat down next to the dog.

"I can understand why, but know this, this man knows where Sherman's school is, he probably knows the school schedule, it wouldn't even surprise me if he knew the route from your house to the school." Barley said, Peabody looked up at the ceiling.

"Ok, If you are refusing witness protection, then the most I can suggest now, buddy system, Sherman has to be with somebody at all times." Barely then got up and turned to Peabody.

"I really wish that I could be more help, I really do, but right now, those are your only two options."

"Right...Thank you for bringing this to my attention...allow me to walk you out." Peabody said and hopped off the bed, he had no clue what he was going to do, how was he going to tell Sherman?

As if reading his mind, Barely spoke again.

"Don't do it today. Not on his birthday."

Peabody just nodded slowly, he could understand that. What kind wants to hear on their birthday that one of the two men that kidnapped you is free and most likely out to get you again?

They walked to the elevator in silence, Peabody noting that all of the cops, besides Barley had most likely left the area, he also noted that the Greenbloom and Petersons seemed to be talking in hushed whispers.

"Right, well, I guess, thank you for stopping by." Peabody said as they got to the elevator. Officer Barely nodded.

"Just...Think about my offer." Barley told him and then stepped into the elevator, with out another word, the man pressed a button and the doors slid shut, bringing him down.

"Offer?" Mr. Peterson asked from behind, it caused Peabody to jump up a bit and spin around to face the man. Patty walked up to Paul a worried look on her face.

"It's nothing to be too concerned about." Peabody told them reassuringly. There was a silence, Peabody noticed that the frowns still stayed on their faces.

"Mr. Peabody...Paul and I have been talking, we don't feel like Penny is safe around Sherman..." Patty said slowly. Peabody blinked a bit.

"Mr. and Mrs. Peterson, I understand your concerns, I do, But, Penny isn't in any danger."

"You say that, Peabody, but, with everything that had happened to Sherman, the kidnapping, the present he received, I don't see Penny being safe around him, what if they go after her because she is associated with your boy?" Paul asked, his voice harsh.

Of course, the kidnapping was no secret to public, journalist are sneaky and the moment they found out about Sherman's kidnapping they were there, at the hospital, wanting to talk to Sherman and Peabody, throwing microphones in their faces, Of course, Peabody kept Sherman's face hidden from any cameras. Still, did the press have a field day.

Peabody felt his eyes narrowing a bit at what Paul had said.

"With all due respect, Mr. Peterson, but what happened to my son, has nothing to do with your daughter." Peabody said a slight bite in his words. He noticed the Greenbloom's looking at them, they must be feeling pretty awkward right about now.

"We just want her to be safe." Paul said back, his shoulder's tensing up, Peabody had keep back the growl in his throat.

"I understand that, and she will be-"

"How can she be, when Sherman isn't even safe in his own home?"

"Paul!" Patty gasped, Peabody's ears perked up, he felt rage boil in his stomach.

"What did you say?" Peabody asked, his voice now tittering on the edge of a growl.

"You heard me Peabody, Sherman isn't safe here, everyone here knows it now, that gift he got? yeah, it was a threat a very obvious threat. I don't want my daughter to be around when whoever sent that threat decides to come around and fill it out. She's not safe and Sherman defiantly isn't safe! You maybe a dog Peabody, but you're no attack dog...You know what you are? You are the kind of dog that welcomes strangers into their home with a lick in the face. That's what you are."

Peabody had no idea how he could respond to that, he felt like he just been slapped then stepped on. Feeling eyes on him, he turned his head, standing in the hallway, watching them where all the children, Sherman and Penny included. Paul noticed the children also and straightened up.

"Having fun?" Paul asked them, Sherman just shook his head and turned back towards his room, Penny quickly followed. Instantly, the other children did too. The moment they heard Sherman's door shut. The professor spoke, almost like he was scolding children.

"Enough, enough of this bickering. There is a little boy who is scared , this fighting isn't helping him, in fact, I might just make things worse. Mr. Peterson, you care for your daughter, we see that. But right now, it seems like she's the one who's helping Sherman though this, her and the other children, you take her away from Sherman now, you know what you're going to have? Your going to have a scared and lonely little boy who will probably distance himself from others." The professor growled at the two adults. Paul took a deep breath, taking in the professor's words.

"Why do you think I told Peabody it was ok for Ben and Guinevere to stay the night if they wanted to? I mean, just to leave a child alone after what he saw, his friends are there comforting him, I mean, Peabody even said it himself! They made Sherman do the impossible! Look! He came out of his room, he opened his door! His friends are there comforting him right now, what are we doing? we're fighting. That's not right, it's not." The professor finished, both Peabody and Paul looked at each other and then at the ground.

"He's right...I guess...In all, I didn't take Sherman's feelings into account in all of this..." Paul mumbled a bit darkly and Peabody nodded.

"Yeah...I guess I didn't really either.." Peabody muttered looking down.

"Can we let bygones be bygones?" The professor asked, Peabody nodded slowly and so did Paul.

"Good, now." The professor paused clapping his hands together he smiled then said:

"Seeing as the children are comforting Sherman at the moment, why don't we all just have a drink?"

_Ok, Ok, So for those of you how don't know, The professor, Vita, Ben, and Guinevere all belong to a book called 'Dragon rider' this will not be a full on crossover story, I can promise you that._

_NOTE: OK, guys, I hate to do this, but I need feedback! I need reviews, No I'm not a review whore (ok I kinda am) but thats beside the point, I don't know if you guys are liking this story or hating it, TELL ME SOMETHING, anything! please! If I don't get reviews then I lose interest in the story itself, it's sad, but true._


	8. Drunken Talk

Wine, wine was only opened in the Peabody household for rare special occasions, this wasn't one of them, this was a bunch of adults needing a deserving drink after a long hard day. Barnabas, Vita, Patty, Paul and Peabody, all sitting down at the bar, sipping wine, nobody speaking, the only sounds that could be heard was the sound muffled sound of the children talking in the next room.

"Sounds like they got Sherman out of that funk." Paul said, sipping on his drink once more.

"That's good." Peabody said, pouring some more wine in his glass, when the last of it dripped out of the bottle, he tossed it in the trash. Barnabas sighed, he looked at his watch and then got up.

"Well, I think, before I get too drunk, We should be going." He said, Vita nodded.

"Yeah, Me and Patty should get going as well..." Paul said, a slight hiccup left his mouth.

"I'll drive." Patty said, Paul nodded.

"I'll walk you guys out." Peabody said, he jumped down from the chair and staggered a bit, maybe he drank a little too much wine. Wobbling a bit, he straightened himself out and started to walk, more or less, they walked towards the elevator, once the door slid open, the four adults slipped inside.

"You aren't taking Penny?" Peabody asked the Peterson's, Paul shook his head.

"Let her stay the night, if all the other kids are doing it, I see no harm then." He said and with that, the doors shut and the elevator went down, taking both parties with it. Peabody nodded, and walked back over, sipping a little bit of his wine, he realized something.

He now had four children in his home, Sherman included, he had a hard time keeping up with Sherman alone, how can he keep up with three other children, simple, he just needed one more drink...

-transition-

Three glasses of gin later, Peabody found himself slumped against the bar, holding his glass in his paw and rocking his head from side to side. He started pouring more gin into his glass, going for his fourth glass. He shouldn't, he had too much, but just one more glass wouldn't kill him. Once filled, he started to sip, the bitter liquid no longer bothering him. Letting out a loud groan, he laid his head on the table.

How could he let this happen? How could he put Sherman in even more danger?

Groaning again, he chugged the rest of his gin and slammed the cup down on the table.

He needed to invent something to find Matthew and send him back to jail! He'll create a machine! A machine that knows everything about everyone! A machine that can find a single person just by their face!

He can do that, he created a time machine, why not a machine that spies on everyone, every hour, of every day? (If any of you guys get that reference, then I will love you forever.)

Sure, he'll be breaking a few government rules and amendments but his boy will be safe! That's all he wanted, was for Sherman to be safe, was that so hard to understand?

Grabbing the bottle of gin, he went for the fourth glass, or wait, fifth glass? Sixth glass? Eh, Screw it! He then proceeded to just push the glass away and started to chug straight from the bottle.

"Mr. Peabody?"

Still chugging, Peabody turned around and faced his boy. Sherman was already dressed in his pajamas, Peabody looked at the time, it was 34:12? whoa, it was late, what was he doing up?

"Shermash, Y-Yoush should be in your bed." Peabody slurred placing the bottle down on the table. Sherman said nothing, he's never seen Mr. Peabody so...bizarre before, what was wrong with his father?

"C-C'mon...I'llsh tuck yous in.." Peabody said his speech still slurred, He then tried to get up, only to fall down flat on his face. Quickly, Sherman ran to his father and helped him up.

"Mr. Peabody, are you alright?" Sherman asked his father, who was now leaning fully on the eight year old, almost knocking him down. Peabody spoke but his speech was so slurred that Sherman couldn't make heads or tails of what his father even tried to say.

"Let's go and tuck you in, Mr. Peabody." Sherman mumbled and walked his father towards his bed room.

"Not Slepy" Peabody said, his head tipping from side to side.

"You need sleep." Sherman told him.

"You don't slep."

"...I sleep, Mr. Peabody, I've just been having some trouble sleeping." Sherman confessed, Peabody slurred something unintelligible once again and Sherman just shook his head.

"Whhhhyyy donsh you tulk to mah anymore?" Peabody asked Sherman, his speech even more slurred than before. Still, Sherman understood what his father had asked. He just shook his head and brought Peabody into his own room. He helped his father into his bed, Peabody laid down and Sherman threw the covers over his father's body.

"There we go, nice and easy. " Sherman said and tucked his father into bed.

"III lovesh yoush Shermash." Peabody said to Sherman, who blinked slightly.

"I have a deep regard for you to, Mr. Peabody." Sherman said gently and then started to walk out of Peabody's room. Before fully shutting the door, Sherman spoke gently, "Goodnight, Mr. Peabody."

"Gourdniighht, Shermash." The eight year old heard before finally Shutting the door.

Sherman sighed heavily and walked over to the bar, putting the cap on the bottle of gin, he grabbed the glass and put it in the sink. Sherman then yawned loudly, he felt unusually tired.

Walking back to his room, Sherman slipped into his bed, careful not to wake Ben, Guinevere, and Penny, laying his head down on his pillow, he slowly shut his eyes and dozed off.


	9. A little hangover

Peabody let out a heavy groan, his head, it felt like a thousand tiny hammers were constantly hitting it. He felt sick, like he was going to throw up, he was also extremely thirsty. Languidly Peabody reached for his phone, he clicked the button on the side and cringed back when the bright light hit his eyes. Once his eyes were use to the light, he looked at the time.

12:48 pm.

It was beyond late, but still, he felt tired, maybe just five more minutes of sleep.

He shut his eyes, what felt like five minutes later, he reopened them. His head still pounding heavily against his skull, his mouth even drier and the nausea even worse than before. Still, he picked up his phone and looked at the time.

2:59 pm.

He groaned deeply once again, he really didn't want to get out of bed. He shut his eyes, the phone falling on his chest once again, just when he was about to sleep even more, he remembered something. Something that made him shoot up like a rocket.

"The kids!"

He had four children in his house, the fact that he couldn't hear anything coming from outside his room meant that something was wrong. Ignoring his headache and nausea, Peabody shot out of his bed and ran out of his room. He walked down the hallway and into the living room. Not before bumping into a wall first.

Rubbing his head, he looked around the living room and blinked, the place was picked up from last night, all of Sherman's presents that were on the table were gone, most likely in his room, the bottle of gin and glass was no longer on the table. Still, the kids were no where to be seen, walking into the kitchen, he noticed that Sherman's cake was put away, and the dishes were cleaned up.

He rubbed his temples, his head feeling like it was split in two.

"Kids? Children?" He called out. Looking around the kitchen, nope, no children in here.

Did they leave the penthouse? Did Sherman use the WABAC!?

Wasting no time, Peabody ran towards the elevator, but before he could push the button to go down, the elevator dinged, it caused Mr. Peabody to take a step back. When the doors opened, he was slightly surprised to find Penny and Sherman standing inside, Penny holding a brown paper bag.

"Mr. Peabody, you're up!" Sherman said happily, a smile on his face.

"Uh, Yes, I am, Where are Benjamin and Guinevere?" Peabody asked when he realized that those two weren't with them.

"Oh, they went home." Penny said, walking out of the elevator, Sherman in tow.

"They just walked home?" Peabody asked, following the two children, they put the bags down on one of the tables.

"Yeah, They know where they live, plus they said they would call us when they got there." Penny mumbled, taking out some items from the bag. Sherman then tossed something to the dog, who caught it quickly, he looked at it, Aspirins.

"Ben told us that you might have a headache after what happened last night, So, we walked down to the store and got you some aspirins and ibuprofen, we heard those where the best to cure headaches." Penny explained as she crumpled up the bag, Mr. Peabody noted that they also got a few candy bars.

"Oh, well, thank you for this, but you two shouldn't of left with out waking me."

"We tried, you wouldn't wake up." Sherman said, his voice had a slight tone in it that made Peabody frown a bit.

"Well, you could of left a note." Peabody sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We did." Both Penny and Sherman said in unison. Peabody opened his mouth, then shut it, then he scoffed.

"Don't lie to me, I would of seen a note lying around." Peabody told them sternly, Penny walked past the dog and over to the table that Sherman's presents were once on, she picked up a piece of paper and showed it to Peabody. The white beagle started to read the paper.

_Mr. Peabody, Penny and I are walking to the store up the street, no need to worry, be back soon._

_-Love Sherman._

"Oh..." was all Peabody could say, he rubbed the back of his neck once again. Then sighed deeply.

"Thank you two for doing this, I do appreciate it, but, Sherman, I really don't want you leaving the Penthouse with me knowing, you understand why, I know you do." Peabody said, a slight scowl on his face, he then softened up a bit, his head pounding again and the nausea was making a comeback. The dog was trying very hard not to gag in front of the children.

"Of course, Mr. Peabody, it won't happen again." Sherman said, his voice small.

"It's alright, I'm going to let this slide but you do it again, then I will punish you, now, I'm going to go to the restroom, Sherman, if you could possibly get me a glass of water, just leave it out side the door." Peabody said, then hurried away, both children heard the door of the restroom shut, followed by the unmistakable sound of retching.

"Wow, he sounds real sick, do you think it's the stomach flu? I got one once, threw up all day, it wasn't pretty." Sherman said, sticking his tongue out while holding his stomach.

"I don't know." Penny confessed.

"Well, I should get him that water." Sherman said and ran off to do that. Penny sat down on the living room while Sherman went to do that, just then, the phone rang. Penny waited but it didn't seem like Sherman was going to get, Getting up she grabbed the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" She asked, for a few seconds there was nothing but silence, then a voice spoke.

"You shouldn't answer other people's phones, Little girl." The voice was deep and mysterious, it made Penny shiver a bit.

"If you want to talk to Mr. Peabody, He's not here." She lied, there was another silence followed by.

"Yes he is, in fact, he just ran to the bathroom, why are you lying?"

Penny felt a slight anger fill her, who was this man?

"You gave Sherman the dog, didn't you?" She asked him, her shoulders tense now.

"Maybe, it doesn't concern you...Take my advice, leave the house tonight...I don't want to hurt you, you seem nice enough..."

With that the line went dead, Penny dropped the phone and gasped.

"Penny?" She turned and looked at Sherman, a glass of water in his hand. He took one look at her frightened face and became concerned.

"Did something happen?" He asked her, she quickly shook her head.

"No...No..." She lied, he gave her a look, then shrugged and walked away to the bathroom. Penny placed both hands on her chest, then over her mouth.

What was she going to do? Tell Sherman? Tell Mr. Peabody? Call the cops? She looked down at her hands, She had to do something! This man was going to hurt Sherman and Mr. Peabody! She couldn't just leave them.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone again, she didn't want to call the cops, no, Sherman admitted to her and Ben yesterday that he didn't like cops, he said a few of them said it was Sherman's own fault that he got kidnapped.

She had to think of something! whatever this guy had planned it was happening tonight.


	10. The start

Peabody stayed locked in the bathroom for the rest of the day, vomiting, and trying his best to keep down food and water, according to the dog, he had what is simply known as a 'hangover' which is what happens when one drink's too much.

Sherman and Penny didn't really understand it, but they both figured it was best to leave the dog alone while he was in this state. So now, here they both where sitting on the couch, watching some TV, just some random cartoon, but Penny wasn't even paying attention, she looked outside, the sun was setting.

"Do you want to go home? I can walk you if you'd like." Sherman said, noticing that Penny was looking outside.

"No, I think I can spend the night again."

"We have school tomorrow."

"We go to the same school."

"You don't have clothes."

Penny opened and closed her mouth, Sherman had a good point there, she didn't have her school clothes with her, Still, she didn't want to leave Sherman, she couldn't!

"C'mon, I'll go and tell Mr. Peabody, I'm walking you home, before it gets dark." Sherman said and got up, before he could walk towards the bathroom, Penny ran up and grabbed him by the shoulder's spinning him around so he faced her.

"You're in danger!" She blurted out before she could stop herself. Sherman just gave her a strange look, not sure how to react to it. Slowly he grabbed her hands and placed them off of his shoulders.

"I know, I saw the dog-"

"Whoever it is after you is coming tonight! Sherman...You have to leave...Come, spend the night at my house! pack up some clothes, you'll be safe! Please!" She cried at him, tears brimming in her eyes.

"How do you know this?"

"Because he called! He called and I picked up the phone, Sherman, please-" Before she could finish her sentence the lights went out in the penthouse, it caused Penny to cry out and clutch onto Sherman.

"Urg...Children? Is everything ok?" Came Peabody's voice from the restroom.

"Everything is fine, Mr. Peabody, I'm looking for some flashlights now." Sherman said and started to walk away, while Penny slowly let go of Sherman. Luckily, it wasn't completely dark, the sun was still out, but not for long. It was completely set. Using the little light, Sherman searched around for a flashlight.

After a few minutes, he found one under the kitchen sink. Penny twirled her hair with her fingers and looked around worriedly.

"S-Sherman? With the power out, People can't use the elevator, right?" Penny asked him, keeping her eyes on the elevator, Sherman had a frown on his face as he flicked the flashlight on.

"I honestly don't know...I think it depends."

"On?"

"If the power is out in the whole building or if it's just out in our part of the building." Sherman told her. That didn't make her feel any better.

"Lets go and stay near Mr. Peabody. I'll feel safer around him..." Penny said and Sherman nodded, he was also secretly afraid of what is going to happen next. They started to walk towards the bathroom, Sherman felt uneasy. The door to the restroom opened, out came a disheveled Peabody. He looked tired, like he was about to collapse right there. Whatever this 'Hangover' was it made Sherman's father look ten years older.

"Why has the power gone out?" He asked them as he gently took the flashlight from Sherman's hands. Both of the children just shrugged, Mr. Peabody frowned. His fear was beginning to grow.

"Sherman...Penny...Both of you go into Sherman's room, lock the door. Don't come out unless I order it, do you understand me?" He asked them, giving them both a stern look. Both of them nodded quickly and, with out wasting time, they turned and ran for the room. The moment Peabody heard the door lock, he found himself growling, his fur rising. Peabody cautiously walked towards the door that lead to the stairs, he knew that someone was here, and going to make his attack, of course the man wasn't going to use the elevator, no, he was going to use the stairs. Peabody had to lock the door.

The sun had set and it was now pitch black except for the flashlight that only gave out a small beam of light. It gave the penthouse a very uneasy feeling to it. Luckily, he knew where everything was in the penthouse. Then he heard it, a loud bang of the door to the stairway. Someone had entered the Penthouse.

Mr. Peabody knew who it was, Matthew Walters.

Matthew Walters was here, in his Penthouse, most likely armed, while all Peabody had was a flashlight...

_Ok, please review! Reviews make the world go round and me a very happy author _


	11. Taken by a new face

"...Mr. Walters...Can we talk about this?" Peabody asked as he walked around the Penthouse, flashlight in hand, he moved the light around, hoping to find any trace of the man. On the occasion, he'll see a shadow move, but besides that, nothing.

"Mr. Walters, it doesn't have to be like this...What do you even want with Sherman!? He's not even of your kin." Peabody said with a slight growl. As expected, no answer. Peabody felt his fur start to rise a bit, it was very unnerving. The fact that the only light source was this flashlight and the fact that Mr. Walters could be anywhere.

Turning around quickly, Peabody looked, nothing behind him. He continued to walk forward, listening for anything. He had one more trick up his sleeve, one that he hoped will work.

"Mr. Walters...You seem like a very intelligent man...Very smart in a lot of ways. I mean...I don't know a lot of people who could plan a kidnapping so...perfectly than you." Mr. Peabody hated the words leaving his mouth, but if Matthew Walters is anything like Robespierre, then he can't turn down a compliment. There was few heart beats of silence, all Peabody could hear was his own breathing.

"I mean...James couldn't pull everything off on his own could he? From what I heard, you were the brains of it all, planning every little step precisely " Peabody continued, shining his light around, looking for Matthew. He then heard it, a loud clatter from the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, the dog cautiously walked towards the kitchen, listening out for any other sounds.

Stepping inside the kitchen, Peabody shone the light around, he soon saw what had made the racket, the cabinet that held all the pans was wide open, pans on the floor. He gripped his flashlight even tighter, he narrowed his eyes, Peabody knew what Matthew was doing, playing mind games with him.

"Mr-URG!" Before he could finish his sentence something pounded into the back of his head, making him fall over, it didn't knock the dog out, but it stunned him. His vision blurred horribly, all he could see was a pair of shoes, still, even that was blurry. The best he could, he looked up, the person was blurred, but something struck the dog all the same.

"You're not..." He couldn't finish his sentence. He found himself blacking out. The last thing he thought was this.

That person wasn't Matthew Walters.

-Transition still Peabody-

"..Ey...Hey...Ody? Hey...Buddy get up.." Peabody groaned deeply, his head pounding even worse than before, he felt himself being shaken. Slowly, he tried to move but even the slightest movement hurt.

"Easy, Peabody, we got a paramedic coming up...or would you prefer a vet?" A familiar voice asked him, Peabody looked up and glared at Officer Barely. He also noticed that the lights were back on.

"The children!" Peabody yelled and quickly got up, ignoring Officer Barely's request to sit back down. Running on all fours, he ran towards Sherman's room. His head stopped the moment he saw the door.

The door was busted off of it's hinges, he could hear officers talking inside. Getting to his feet, he walked over to the frame, the room was messy, a sure tell sign of a struggle. He breath got caught in his throat, some police officers were taking pictures and writing stuff down. Officer Barely walked over towards Peabody and sighed.

"I'm sorry man, by the time we got here...it was too late."

"How did you guys know?"

"Someone, I believe it was Sherman, called me on your cellphone." Barely said and Peabody growled, his fatherly instincts kicking in full swing.

"I'm finding him." Peabody said and turned, only be grabbed by Barely.

"You think you are. Look, you need to go with the paramedics."

Peabody growled at the officer, and the officer actually growled back.

"You're no good to Sherman now, look at yourself! You aren't thinking straight, think straight! Let me find him, I'm sure I know where Walters took him." Barley said, straightening up a bit. Peabody gasped suddenly.

"Officer...The man who attacked me...It's not Matthew-"

"I know...We found Matthew last night-"

"Then who-"

"Her name is Trisha Walters...The youngest of the Walters family...She helped Matthew out, and she recently got James out."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this!? You didn't think that maybe it might be relevant-"

Officer Barley put his hand up silencing the dog.

"We found all of this out last night. Matthew told us...We had to give him a deal, but he told us everything. Including where they took Sherman and the girl. We will get your son and that girl back, I promise you. Please...Go with the paramedic. Let the police deal with this."

"Last time I trusted an Officer, it turned out to be Matthew, why should I trust you?"

"Because, you know I'm a real officer. Plus, You will act out of rage, I can tell. Be the rational thinker I know you are." Barely said sternly, Peabody tensed and looked at the man in the eye, then he softened up.

"You...Can get Sherman and Penny back?" Peabody asked him and Barely put his hand on Peabody's shoulder.

"I can't promise that, but, I can promise this, I will die tryin' to get those two back, trust me when I say, an officer's worse fear is to find children dead..."

_Reviews make me very, very happy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	12. Questions and answers

Officer Barley revved his car, the lights on top and his siren blaring, there were two other cop cars behind him, traffic parted for the cars as they sped along the street. He knew what car he was looking for, he knew the license plate, and he knew where he was going. He just hoped it wasn't too late. His partner, Officer Dison, looked at him.

Officer Dison was a pretty average man, clean shaven, black hair slicked back, average height and weight.

"Barely, you are aware that there might be a gun fight between us and them, right?" Dison said as he took out his pistol and checked the ammo.

"I am very aware of that." Barley said, monotone, he kept his eyes on the road as he sped along the road.

"I heard the sister is off her rocker."

"She is, she was institutionalized for three years. According her therapist she is incredibly dangerous."

"..Hm.." Was all Dison could say. Just then, their radio came to life.

(A/N Ok, I am not a cop, I do not plan on being a cop, but, I am going to try my best with the cop talk here)

"10-8 do you copy?" The female voice spoke, before Barely could grab the microphone, Dison.

"10-8 do copy." Dison said

"We have found and are following 11-54 towards Jefferson street, we believe that the children are inside. Do copy?"

"Copy." Dison said and hung up, Barely grunted and turned the car, the wheels screeching in protest of the sharp turn.

"What are you doing?! Jefferson street is the other way!" Dison said and Barely smiled at his partner.

"I'm taking the back way, good chance of cutting them off." Barley said, speeding the car up. Barely then grabbed the mic from Dison and spoke in it.

"Any and all officers, we have a 5150 on our hands on Jefferson street, she has kidnapped two children and is considered extremely dangerous. She may or may not have escaped prisoner James Walters with her, She has been known to kill, approach with caution." He said and then hung the mic up, pressing down on gas pedal, Barely pushed his car way over the speed limit. Barely clutched the steering wheel tightly.

He could hardly hear anything over the revving engine. Barley turned again, without slowing down, it caused the wheels screech loudly in protest. He could see Jefferson street, he could see lights of other police cars, he put the gas petal all the way down, speeding up, he might just make it.

"Barley..." Dison said as he looked back and forth between the speeding officer and the intersection that was coming up. The lights from the cop cars chasing the suspects car were getting real close to the other side of the intersection as well. Barley didn't answer, he just kept his eyes on the road, the speedometer needle was all the way to the end, well over a hundred miles per-hour.

"Barley." Dison said again, grabbing the handle above his door, Dison felt his heart speed up to match the speed they were going. Barley was going to kill them...

The they were almost to the intersection, Dison could see headlights beaming as another car started to come from the opposite direction.

"BARLEY!" Dison screamed just as they made it to the intersection, the car coming hit them dead on, caused the cop car to spin out of control. Dison felt his head hit the dashboard, the tires of the car screeched loudly once again, but this was because Barley had slammed on the breaks to stop the car. Dison groaned and rubbed his, now, sore head. Barley already had his gun drawn and pointed at the driver in the car.

"Get outta the car!" Barley screamed loudly to the driver as he opened his car door to get out, grabbing his own gun, Dison got out of the car and pointed it as the driver as well, the other officers had already stopped and where cautiously approaching the car, their guns out as well. Barley was the first officer to the man's door.

Dison grimaced a little when he saw the front of the car, the headlights were crushed and broken, glass all over the street, the fender was hanging off of the car and the hood was bent upwards.

"Hands behind your head!" Officer Barley growled as he jerked James Walters out of the car, another officer opened the passenger side door and jerked a young woman out, Dison had to guess that was Trisha.

She was a young looking woman, hair up in a messy ponytail, it was wavy by the looks of it, she was average height for a woman of her age. Dison noticed how frazzled she looked.

Dison ran up to help Barley, James was putting up quiet the struggle. The two of them managed to get James down on his stomach, Dison had his knee on Walters's shoulder as Barley started to handcuff him.

"I hope you liked your short-lived freedom, Scumbag." Barley spat as he pulled James up to his feet.

"Bite me, Pig."

They lead James to a cop car that wasn't damaged from the side, once he was inside the car and not able to get out, they ran back towards the car. Trisha was already but away inside another car.

"No sign of any kids." Another officer told them once they made it to the car.

"Didja check the trunk?" Barley asked as he leaned down into the driver side door. He pulled on a level below the driver's seat and the trunk popped open. They ran up and opened it. Empty. Barley stiffened, where the hell were the kids?! He turned and stormed towards were James. Dison followed only to be stopped by the other officer.

"Let him do this." The other officer said and Dison sighed.

Barely practically ripped James's door open and yanked the man out of his seat.

"Alright, I'm done with this, where are the kids?!"

James just shook his head and smirked.

"What's in it for me?" James asked, he smiled, missing his front teeth, he gave Barley a very ugly smile.

"You don't get shot in the kneecap, that's what."

"You can't do that."

Barley took out his gun, pointed it at James's knee and looked at the man.

"You wanna bet on that?" Barley asked James, narrowing his eyes at the younger man, he was not messing around, not when there are two little kids missing and their lives were on the line. James growled at this and shifted a bit. Probably not wanting anymore injuries, he spoke up.

"Trisha got rid of them-"

"Where?!"

"...The woods...She knows people..."

"Are these people dangerous!? Will they harm children?!" Barley asked, slamming James's back against the cop car.

"I don't know..Talk to Trish, she knows them...I don't. But, she won't give you an answer, she doesn't like bacon."

"I'll get her to, just you watch and see."

_So...I found out I've been misspelling Barley's name from Barley to Barely... Sorry about that._


	13. Deals and searching

Barley walked into the interrogation room where Trisha Walters was being held in. Papers in his hands, every second wasted was another second those kids were in the hands of these 'friends' of Trisha. Of course, this girl refused to speak unless it was to a lawyer, Barley didn't want to wait for some slack-jaw lawyer to come, but it was the rules.

Trisha was handcuffed to the table, seeing that she's a crazy case. Barley sighed, how much longer for that lawyer?! He knew one thing, if they didn't find those two children by tonight, then hell was going to break loose. He found himself pacing as he looked though the one way mirror, Trisha was too calm. This didn't seem right.

Finally, the door opened, it was Trisha's lawyer, a Short stubby man with a receding hairline, when he spoke he sounded congested.

"Don't you tell this man a word, Trisha." The lawyer said, ignoring the glare from Barley.

"I haven't." Trisha spoke, she sounded bored of all things.

(Ok, I am not a lawyer, I do not plan to be a lawyer, I cannot do the lawyer talk, so, If something is wrong, I am sorry.)

The lawyer placed his suitcase down on the table and took out a few papers.

"Ms. Walters, right now you are looking at up to over a hundred years in prison-"

"-I want a deal." Trisha cut in before the lawyer could finish. Barley growled and slammed his papers down.

"Lets see the rap sheet, Kidnapping of two children under fifteen years old, breaking out two prisoners out of prison, Breaking and entering, assault on Mr. Peabody, evading police, resisting arrest, oh, and breaking out of the mental ward, so. No. No. Deal, you are going to tell me where those kids are."

"Not, without a deal." Trisha said as she glared at Barley. She then leaned back in her chair and looked at her nails.

"Oh, I wonder what my friends are doing with those two-"

"Just because you are a woman doesn't mean I won't strike you down!" Officer Barley screamed at her, slamming his hands down on the table, quickly her lawyer spoke.

"Officer Barley, please! Control yourself! Now, If you were to give her a deal, I would suggest life-"

"-Hey, I don't want life!"

"It would be better than up to a hundred and twenty years with no parole in prison." The lawyer said, then straightened up a bit before continuing, "Life, with parole." He told Barley, the cop narrowed his eyes at this, he let out a sigh though his nose.

"Alright." Barley said and extended his hand towards Trisha she went to grab it, but, he quickly pulled away.

"If. those children are hurt, in any way, shape, or form, then you can forget it." He told her, his voice full of venom, she gave him a hard look, then nodded.

"Alright. Deal." She said, and the two shook hands.

"Where are they, and who are your 'friends'?" He asked, air quoting the word 'friends'.

Trisha smirked, a devilish smirk, it made Barley shudder a bit.

"California Hill State Forest, the people are looking are called Carmin Hernandez and Jessica Jacobs, don't let Carmin's name fool you, Carmin is a dude." She said and leaned back.

"California Hill State Forest is over nine hundred and fifty acres, where are they?"

"Sorry, I don't know that one." Trisha smirked at him, crossing her legs. Barley growled and stormed out, slamming the door shut. He wanted to slap that stupid smirk right off of her face. Still, he knows where the children are and who her accomplices are as well. Now, all he needed was a search party.

-Transition-

Fifteen cops, not counting Barley, and two search dogs, plus the Petersons and Peabody, that's the best they could do on short notice. Still, it was better than nothing. Barley was leading the operation.

He stood in front of the crowd, he saw Dison in the crowd of cops and nodded towards his partner. He then took out two pictures, one of Sherman, one of Penny.

"We are searching for Sherman Peabody and Penelope Peterson. They were abandoned here, now, they may or may not be accompanied by two people with criminal records, fearing these people to be dangerous, anyone who is not an officer or the law, must have an officer with them as they search." Barley spoke, the sound of rolling thunder caused everyone to look up.

"We will meet back here in an hour. Everyone, break." Barley finished and watched as people started to head into the forest, Peabody with a random officer and the Peterson's went with Dison. Barley turned and walked into the woods. He could hear the people off in the distance calling for the children.

Barley figured that those kids wouldn't be anywhere near the trail, so he walked towards the more deeper part of the forest where the trees inhabited most of the place and it was hard to get around. Perfect place for 'off the grid' people. He squeezed by two trees and awkwardly stepped around some plantation.

"Penny!" He called out loudly, the thunder rolled again, it caused him to look up and frown, it was dark out already so he couldn't really see if there were dark clouds up a head, but he did know that he couldn't see the stars.

"Sherman!" Barley yelled as he walked around the trees, he couldn't see much in front of him, taking out tiny flashlight out of his pocket, he clicked it on. Good, he could see a little bit farther, but couldn't see too much. His walkie talkie came to life for a second.

"Barley? It's Dison, do copy?" Dison said on the walkie talkie asked, grabbing it, he bright it to his mouth.

"Yes? Did you find anything?" Barley asked Dison, there was a silence on Dison's line, then the other officer spoke.

"We found some trash, it may be nothing, but, I thought I let you know, we are on the southwest side of the woods." Dison told him, Barley quickly responded back.

"Ok, would you like back up?"

"No, I think we can handle it."

Barley shook his head, what was the point of that call?

After a few minutes of the only sound being was his shoes against the twigs, he heard another roll of thunder, followed by the sound of something dropping on the leaves on the trees. After a few seconds the sound of something dropping on the leaves grew hard followed by the feeling of something wet dropping on him, it was raining. Just great.

-Transition-

Mr. Peabody had long since ditched his designated officer, he didn't need someone to hold his hand, he just needed to find the children. He was already trying to find Sherman's scent, He hadn't even realized it had started to rain until he noticed that he couldn't see out of his glasses. Water droplets collecting on the glass. He took his classes off and rubbed them on his damp fur. The most it did was streak the glasses and made it worse to see out of. Still, he couldn't let that stop him, he couldn't let a little bit of rain or wind stop him from finding his boy.

"Sh-Sh-..." He took a deep breath, he voice was failing him, that was odd. Shaking his head, He tried again.

"Sherman!" Peabody screamed, sniffing along the ground, Sherman's already hard to find scent was fading because of the rain, which, Peabody noted, was getting harder and harder. Shaking the excess water off of his body, he called out again, this time louder.

"SHERMAN!" His voice echoing around the forest a bit. Nothing. He took several deep breaths.

How could this happen again?! How could he let this happen?! What kind of a father was he?!

He stood there for a few moments, he couldn't see, not because his glasses had water droplets on them, but, because he had tears in his eyes. Taking his glasses off, he rubbed his eyes and shook his head.

No.

Now was NOT the time to break down. Sherman and Penny needed him, save the crying for later. Putting his glasses on, he got down on all fours, something he loathed doing, and started to sniff the ground. He was going to find Sherman and Penny if it was the last thing he did.

_Oh, Hello Jewel, good to see you up and running again, are you stalking me?_


	14. More searching and slight finding

Barley sighed deeply, he looked at his phone, time to meet the others at the starting point, about to turn around, he stopped, something shiny caught his eye. It would of almost been invisible if it wasn't for the moon shining on it. Walking over towards it, he realized it was a whistle of some sort. Dusting it off, he brought it to his mouth and then blew in it. Nothing, it was busted, probably just some trash-

Then he heard it, the dogs were going crazy, did they find something?! Bringing his walkie talkie to his mouth he spoke to one of the dog owners.

"Michals, did you find anything?" He asked the officer in an urgent voice. He was quickly met with a response.

"No sir, the dogs are having a fit, but there is nothing to be found, the ground isn't disturbed in anyway, there is no trash on the ground, nothing that could point to finding the children." Michals said and Barley frowned just a bit. He looked at the whistle in his hand and brought it up to his lips once again, then, he blew into it once again, he heard no sound, but could hear the dogs in the background going ape crazy.

Before he could say or do anything else, Mr. Peabody came crashing out of the bushes, his fur fluffed out a bit, Barley noticed that Peabody was on all fours. He took one look at Barley and seemed to relax a bit, he then stood on his two hind legs and smoothed his razzled fur out.

"I-I heard Sherman's whistle..." Peabody breathed out, straightening his bow tie and glasses.

"Whistle?" Barley asked him gently, there was a silence between them, Peabody gulped a bit.

"I gave Sherman a dog whistle a while back."

Dog whistle, that's why the dogs went crazy.

"Was it this one?" Barley asked the dog, dangling the whistle in front of Peabody's face. The dog blinked once, then, before he knew it, the whistle was snatched out of Barley's hands and the dog was sniffing it.

"Yes, this is Sherman's, it has his scent all over it." Peabody said. Not even a second later, Barley was talking to all the other officer's on the walkie talkie.

"We found an item of Sherman's, southeast of the starting point, any and all officers should follow." Barley said and then grabbed Peabody's damp arm.

"Can you sniff him out from here?" Barley asked urgently, there was a silence, Barley could see Peabody's nose twitching.

"It's scattered, the rain making it that way, but, it's not impossible to find, follow me!" Peabody yelled, yanking his arm out of the officer's grip, he followed the scattered scent, hoping he was going the right way, all the while, Barely followed behind the dog, giving instructions to the other officers with the walkie talkie. After a few twists and turns, Peabody skidded to a halt, Barley did the same and spoke though the walkie talkie.

"We have stopped, I repeat, we have stopped, southwest from where we originally took off, between a clutter of rocks and trees." Barley spoke and then put the talkie up on his belt, he, Barley, looked at Peabody.

"Didja lose his scent?" Barley asked the dog. There was a silence, the only thing Barley could hear was just a few crickets and the searching dogs off in the distance. He looked at Peabody, the dog's ears were perked up, he looked stiff as if he was listening to something. Then, with little to no warning, Peabody got down on all fours and ran forward, Barley quickly followed the dog, but found himself no match for the dog's impressive speed. Even the smallest dogs were faster than him. Barley pulled on his pants as he ran, he really should get tighter pants.

"Peabody!" Barley growled at the dog in a hushed whispered as he weaved in and out of the trees, he could only briefly see the white dog's tail as Barley tried to follow. Barley grunted as he now used his two hands to keep his pants up. After a few minutes of running, Barley came to a very abrupt halt, almost running into Peabody.

Peabody was crouched down behind a tree, again on all fours. Barley slyly peeked around the tree that Peabody was hiding behind. He, Barley, froze and then growled.

A house, it was a wooden house, a few windows, by the looks of it people were inside by the fact that lights looked to be on. Slowly, Barley brought his walkie talkie up and whispered into.

"This is Lionel Barley, I am here with Mr. Peabody, we have found a house, I believe that the children are inside, I'm going to check." Barley whispered, then put the walkie talkie down next to Peabody.

"You, stay put." Barley told Peabody with a slight growl in his tone. Peabody answered back with an equal growl.

"No, my son is in there-"

"-You don't know that. Look, I don't want to risk you getting hurt, you are a civilian-"

"-I am a father! I literally fought in a war for him!" Peabody barked back standing on his toes and glaring at Barley. The officer let out a low sigh, he knew there was no way for him to win this argument.

"Fine, but stay close and low." Barley hissed, grabbing his gun from his holster. Peabody looked at the gun and his fur bristled once more. Barley looked at the dog then his gun and sighed. He placed his gun back in the holster.

"If I get shot, I'm blaming you." Barley muttered. Staying low, the two of them darted towards the house. Peabody growled, he was quickly met with a bop on the nose.

"Be quiet." Barley hissed. Peabody's nose twitched a bit at the sudden smack on the nose. Peabody then glared at officer. Barley had his back against the wall of the house and Barley started to shift along the wall in an almost crab walk like movement. Peabody shifted along with the officer, right before they rounded the house, Barley came to a halt and so did Peabody, both could see a light. Taking a deep breath, Barley moved his head and peeked around the corner.

The light he saw was from a truck, the truck was running, it looked empty though. Taking a deep breath, Barley made his way towards the truck and opened the front door, Peabody not too far behind. Opening the truck door, Barley looked around just to make sure nobody was around, he then proceeded to go inside the truck. Once inside, he instantly opened the compartment door and looked though the papers of the truck.

"Stolen, I should of guessed." Barley hissed. Placing the papers back in the compartment, Barley looked at Peabody to say something, the door to the house then opened cutting Barley off. Thinking quickly, both Barley and Peabody ran back towards the side of the house, luckily, unnoticed.

Both of them took a deep breath and listened, they could hear the muffled sound of someone talking, followed by a deeper voice talking.

"Stop kicking me, Runt."

Barley had to guess that it was Carmin talking, he also had to guess that the muffled sounds was either Sherman or Penny. He noticed that Peabody looked like he was about to get up and walk over towards the man, quickly Barley grabbed him and forced the dog down.

"No." The officer hissed quietly at Peabody.

"Dammit, Jesse! did you leave the truck door open!? You that could attract bugs!" Carmin yelled, Barley put his palm to his face, in their haste they forgot to shut the door.

"Of course I didn't." Came a female voice, also followed by another muffled speech.

"Yeah, Casper just decided to open the door of the truck for no reason." Carmin said sarcastically. They both heard the sound of two things being thrown into the bed of the truck, followed by the sound of car doors opening and slamming shut. Barley felt his blood run cold when the truck started to move, He grabbed Peabody and lead him back in to the forest, all the while talking into the microphone.

They had their truck, their suspects, and the children, but, they had to chase them down first.

_Whew! that was a little hard, oh well, next chapter is a car chase! yay!_


	15. Chasing them down

_Ok, so, I'm not going to lie, I got this idea from Oliver and Company, but, I did change it up a bit. Also, this chapter probably won't be that long. _

Barley ran up to Dison who was waiting at the squad car, Peabody was with another officer in an other squad car under Barley's own orders. Reaching into his pocket he tossed the key's to Dison.

"You drive." He ordered his partner as he got into the car, who just blinked. Dison got in as well and started the car and they sped off.

"Why aren't you driving?" Dison asked turning the sirens on.

"You'll see."

Dison sighed and accelerated, following where Barley told him where to go. Barley could hear the sound of other sirens wailing in the distance. Sure enough, Barley could see the back of the truck. Barley reached over and rolled his window down, making Dison do a double take.

"What are you doing?" Dision questioned him, Barley looked at Dison and just smiled a bit, but, did not respond. It made Dison shudder. He pressed down on the gas a little more, the engine revved as the speed increased. The wind from the open window hit both Dison and Barley full speed, whipping their hair to the side.

"Get closer to the back of the truck." Barley demanded, Dison let out a soft noise but complied and sped up, what in the world was Barley going to do? The road they were on was a narrow one, there was no where for anyone to turn without winding up in a ditch. The truck in front of them sped up faster.

"Get closer." Barley told DIson, with a grunt, Dison did as he was told and got as close as he could. Both him and the kidnappers going at very dangerous speeds. The driving officer felt his breath get caught in his throat when he saw a tuff of red hair peek out from the bed of the truck.

"Closer." Barley said, it caused Dison to look at his older partner.

"I don't want to get too-"

"Put the fender to his bumper!"

"WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO!?"

"JUST DO IT!"

Dison sighed and sped up, the needle on the speedometer in the red zone. Dison looked out his window briefly he could see other cop cars coming their way, an intersection coming up, he really didn't want a repeat of before. Dison looked back to the back of the truck, he couldn't see Sherman's red hair anymore, he figured the kid was trying to get out of his bindings. He turned to his partner again and did another double take. Barley had his back turned towards his window, sitting sideways in the seat.

"Barley...BARLEY!" Dison screamed as his partner started to wiggle out of the moving car through the window.

The officer outside of the moving car now grabbed on top the hood of the car and hoisted himself up, his feet on the window, he clutched on to the hood, the winds from the speed they were going was hard enough to knock his officers hat off.

"BARLEY! GET YOUR BUTT BACK IN THIS CAR!" Dison yelled at Barley, his tone was deadly. Barley didn't listen, he moved a bit and then jumped up a few inches, his stomach now on the roof of the car, shifting around and found himself sliding down the windshield of the car.

"Dammit Barley..." Dison growled, Dison had half a mind to stomp on the breaks and send his partner flying, but, he knew that Barley must of had some sort of reason for this. Dison bit his lip as Barley stood up on the hood of the car, almost falling. Then, everything made sense when his partner reached over and put his hands on the back of the moving truck.

Taking a deep breath, he, Dison, stepped down on the gas even more, if that was even possible, he wanted to make sure he was close enough to the back of the truck for his partner. Then, all at once, Barley jumped into the back of the truck, obviously, Carmin, the one driving the getaway vehicle, did not like that. All it took was for Dison to see that pistol poke out of the drivers side of the truck and he was on it. Before Carmin could even shoot, Dison did, keeping one hand on the steering wheel. He hit Carmin's hand and the gun went flying out of the young man's hand.

Tossing his gun to the side, Dison went back to driving. He could see the main road, he didn't like it.

"Hurry up, Barley..." He muttered to himself. He saw Barley stand up, the little girl in his arms, Sherman had popped up as well, but looked scared stiff, he was just awkwardly standing there in the back of the truck as the officer hopped from the truck back to the hood of the squad car. His partner was quick getting Penny through the window of the car, Dison helped as well, gently placing the girl down in the seat next to him. The girl was shaking, but both Dison and Barley snapped out of it when they heard Sherman cry out.

They saw Carmin trying to pull the small boy through the back window of the truck. His arm wrapped around Sherman's neck, trying to pull him, Barley reacted quickly running towards the edge of the squad car, Dison could hear Sherman yell.

"Help me! Please!" The young boy screamed as he reached out to the pudgy officer. Dison looked at Penny.

"Buckle up." He ordered her and pushed the car even harder. The engine revved. Barley reached over and managed to grab Sherman's small hand, now it was a deadly game of tug o' war. Dison saw the intersection not even a full minute away, he saw a truck coming their way, a semi-truck, those don't stop easily. Carmin looked up and saw the truck as well, in his moment of distraction, Sherman saw his moment and bit down on Carmin's arm, it caused a cry of alarm and Carmin let go of Sherman.

Barley pulled Sherman towards him, Then, sensing the danger, Barley leaped off the side of the car with Sherman. Dison stomped on the breaks, the tires squealing, he heard Penny gasp out. The car stopped so suddenly that both of them lurched forward a bit.

Unfortunately, The truck in front of them did not stop in time, the semi plowed though them.

For a few seconds neither Dison nor Penny moved, they both sat there breathing heavily. Finally, Dison unbuckled his seatbelt.

"S-Stay here." He told her and got out of the cop car, shutting the door behind him, other officers had already arrived on the scene, equally stunned.

"Barley!" Dison yelled out, remembering his partner and Sherman, they had to of fallen in a ditch when Barley jumped. He walked along the road, searching frantically.

"Dison..." Came Barley's soft voice, it caused the younger man to whip his head towards his partner's voice. Barley was walking out of a ditch, an unconscious Sherman in his arms. Both of them had scratches on their faces, Barley had a noticeable gash on the top of his head.

"You moron." Dison growled, slapping Barley up top the head. He then proceeded to berate the elder officer. "You could of gotten yourself killed! You could of killed Sherman! Do you know how dangerous that was?!" Dison turned red in the face from his rage. Once he finished and huffed he looked at Barley, the man's mustache twitched a bit.

"Feel better?" Barley asked him and Dison just slapped Barley upside the head again.

"Now I do. C'mon, the ambulance is here." Dison muttered as they walked towards the ambulance. "So, that kid is alright? Right?" Dison asked looking at Sherman, he noticed that the kid's glasses seemed to of fallen off.

"He should be fine, after all, he landed on me when we fell, but I think somewhere along the line he hit his head. I tried my best to shield him from the impact of the fall, but, there was nothing I could do when we started rolling." Barley explained, rolling would explain the nicks and cuts on them.

"And the gash on your head?"

"Oh, I miscalculated the jump, hit my head on the road before we landed in the grass and started rolling."

"Sherman!" It was Peabody, no surprise there. Dison went to hold the dog back.

"Don't. Here take him to the ambulance..." Barley said, handing the unconscious Sherman to his father. Dison watched as the dog turned and did as he was told.

"Strong dog." Dison muttered and turned to Barley who was already walking towards the wreck. They walked in silence, the only sound coming from them was the sound of glass crunching under their feet. Dison instantly cringed when he saw the truck, or, what was left of the truck.

It was a jumbled metal mess, flipped upside down, all glass from the truck was broken. Barley shook his head.

"No way in hell did those two survive." Barley muttered softly as he turned around and walked back towards the ambulance, Dison knew that Barley was right, not because the truck was a mess, but, because their bodies where laying underneath two cop jackets just a yard in front of them. Dison could only shake his head.

"Stupid, stupid people..."

_Whew, don't worry, the next chapter will center around Peabody and Sherman and a few characters are coming back as well haha, I think there will be only one chapter left after this one..._


	16. In the Hospital

Mr. Peabody sat by Sherman's hospital bed, Sherman was sleeping peacefully, the dog was in a chair, one leg crossed over the other, a book in one hand, his eyes scanning the pages. He let out a heavy sigh, his son had yet to wake up since the accident. Turning the page, Peabody's gaze turned to the window outside, on one of the top floors and yet, Peabody could see the reporters on the ground floor, waiting for him to show his face, there is no way he was going to indulge those leeches.

Peabody scanned the pages of his favorite book, 'Oliver's Twist' he had read this book to Sherman many times over the years. It gave the dog a slight comfort as he read it.

He looked back at his son, it was day time now, over five hours since Sherman was brought in to this hospital, still, he had yet to wake, though, the doctor said it was normal, being that Sherman hasn't been sleeping normally and that he basically didn't sleep at all last night. So, according to the doctor, this was normal and well needed for Sherman. The doctor even said that this might even bring Sherman back to sleeping normally again. Peabody let out a soft sigh and reached over and swatted a few stray hairs away from Sherman's face. Still, his son didn't move or stir.

He sighed and turned the page again, even though the doctor said it was normal and a good thing that Sherman was sleeping, it made the dog uneasy, was Sherman in pain? Was he having a nightmare? Was he dreaming at all? Would he have amnesia?

All these questions raced through Peabody's mind, There was nothing he could do to stop them from popping up, all he could do was wait and see when Sherman wakes, but, the wait was torturous, to the point that Peabody was getting close to breaking down, but, he wasn't going to. No, he had to stay strong.

Turning yet another page, he sighed through his nose. Ms. Peterson was already home, the worst thing that happened to her was that the ropes that had bound her rubbed against her wrist, a quick bandage solved that little dilemma and she was brought home. He had to wonder how this whole ordeal would effect Penny and Sherman's relationship, they might still be friends after this, but, the look of hatred that Paul gave Peabody before they went home might suggest that the Petersons don't want their daughter around Sherman anymore.

At this point, he wasn't even paying attention to the words on the page, but still, he turned the page away.

This was one way to spend a birthday weekend, kidnappings and car chases and dead dogs. Sherman was going to have to go back to therapy, Peabody made a face at that thought, he really didn't like Sherman's therapist, but, this wasn't for him, this was for Sherman. Looking up at his sleeping boy, he sighed, it was getting to the point that sleeping pills might just be inevitable. He would have to wait and see, he had a feeling that after all that had happened, nightmares just might be coming back, if that happens, then Sherman wouldn't be sleeping normally again. He really hoped it wouldn't get that far, the last thing he wanted to do was drug Sherman.

In mid-turn, Peabody perked his ears up at the sound of soft groaning. Was Sherman waking up?

Placing his book down, Peabody got up and got closer to Sherman, sure enough, Sherman blinked awake, after a few blinks, he focused on his father.

"Mr. Peabody?" Sherman asked, he sounded groggily, slowly, he started to sit up, naturally, Peabody helped him. Once fully sat up, Sherman turned to his father.

"What happened?" He asked Mr. Peabody.

"Well, what do you remember?" Mr. Peabody asked, Sherman thought for a moment before speaking.

"I was at home...Then the lights went out...Then...That's it." Sherman confessed, he looked thoughtful, his boy knew he was missing something, but just didn't know what was missing.

"You...Don't remember?" Peabody asked him, placing a paw on Sherman's forehead, Sherman just simply shook his head, what was he suppose to remember?

Mr. Peabody didn't know if this was good or bad. Slowly, he brought his paw down and sighed, then, he found himself ruffling Sherman's hair, earning a slight giggle from his son.

"I'll be right back, I have to go and talk to the doctor." Peabody said gently and started to walk out of the room.

"Ok..." Sherman muttered as the door shut behind Peabody. The white dog let out a low breath and shut his eyes. This could be one of two possibilities, the first one could be acute amnesia, or, it could be that Sherman had repressed the memories of the attack, either way, this could be both good and bad.

Good because Sherman might not have to deal with the full weight of what happened, bad because, it couldn't be healthy for him to be forgetting this. Swallowing a bit of his pride, Peabody walked towards where Sherman's doctor should be. Sure enough, he found him.

Doctor Johnathon Advar, a man with dark skin and graying hair, he was in his late fifties, a calm and pleasant man to be around, smart as well.

"Dr. Advar." Peabody called as he walked up to the man, the doctor turned and looked at the dog. Once close enough to the doctor, Peabody spoke again. "Sherman has woken up."

Doctor Advar smiled a this.

"Oh good, I was just going to check on him." The doctor said and the two started to walk back towards the room.

"Doctor, Sherman seems to have either acute amnesia or repressed memories, he doesn't seem to remember anything about what happened." Peabody explained

"Well, your son is very young, it doesn't surprise me that he might of just blocked the memories out."

"But, it can't be good for him, just staying in the dark the whole time"

"Mr. Peabody, please try and understand this, his brain wanted those memories to be blocked out for a reason, you told me yourself, he was doing so well, then this happened, maybe this is a good thing." The doctor said with a sigh as he opened Sherman's door, the two of them were met with excited happy chatter. Mr. Peabody was quick to see who was in the room.

Benjamin and Guinevere Greenbloom, both talking to Sherman, how in the world did those two get passed the reporters outside? More importantly, what were they doing out of school?

"What is going on in here?" Peabody demanded, hands on his hips, he looked at both of them sternly. The two of them refused to meet Mr. Peabody's eye. Then after about ten seconds, Ben spoke.

"We just wanted to see if Sherman was ok." Ben muttered rubbing the back of his head.

The doctor cleared his throat, bringing all the attention to him.

"Well, I have a patient to check on, could you please clear out for a few minutes?" Dr. Advar asked, they nodded and started to walk out. Peabody started out as well, wanting to talk to these two. The moment Peabody was out of the door way, the door shut. He huffed and smoothed out his fur before looking at Ben and Guinevere again.

"So? Are you two going to explain to me how you got in?" He asked them, raising an eyebrow at them and crossing his arms.

"We snuck in through one of the back doors." Ben simply said with a shrug like it was no big deal, Peabody then narrowed his eyes at them, he noted that they were both in their school uniforms.

"Where are your parents?" He asked them, that caused both of them to just chuckle awkwardly and look away from him for a moment. He tapped his foot at them, wanting an answer.

Ben then gave Mr. Peabody an awkward smile and spoke in a tight nervous voice.

"At home..."

"Do they even know you two are here?"

Ben and Guinevere looked at each other then at the dog, their guilty faces gave Mr. Peabody the answer he needed. The white dog gave both of them a hard look and put his hands on his hips. Ben then sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"We left school and came here, but it was all my idea, I was just going to sneak out at recess-" Ben started but Guinevere cut in.

"-I saw him and demanded that he take me with him-"

"-We really didn't want to cause trouble, we just wanted to see if Sherman and Penny were alright." Ben finished, Peabody looked at the two of them, then sighed heavily, he couldn't blame them, plus, he wasn't their father, he had no right to punish them for this. He softened a bit, then sighed.

"Alright then...It is not in my right to punish you two, but, I will be telling your parents about this..." He told them sternly, they nodded understandingly, Peabody then smiled at them and said, "Later...for now, I think Sherman would like your company."

He watched as they perked up and smiled at the dog, two big smiles. Peabody gave them a small chuckle, then the door opened and Dr. Advar stepped out.

"Well, I am pleased to say that Sherman should be able to come home today, everything is looking fine." The doctor told Peabody, there was a moment of silence as the dog frowned, his son still didn't remember anything. Still, the dog figured that maybe it was for the best that Sherman forgot. He smiled a bit, then, frowned again, the paparazzi were still out there, the last thing he wanted to do was have Sherman be bombarded by all those leeches out there. Then, he turned to the two children standing by his side.

"Do you two think you can show me where you snuck in at?"

_Ok, one more chapter which will be the epilogue then it's over with. I would like to thank everyone who stuck with me for this long. Seriously, thank you guys so much. Also, thank you for putting up with my needless crossover._


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